Beet harvester



Dec. l, 1936.A

Filed 0G11. 24, 1935 4 u.mUIIUIIUHMHHNHHNIIIIIIHHHH urmmuw||| w M E .m Nn m e E E E. E, m W m E v l n l m" uw w M f E e l x 11| L film.IIIIIIHHI IIHHHHH n 0 Z Emkwillll QW? KN QN 0 v Patented Dec.l -1, 1936UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE naar HARVESTER 01e Hansen, Menan, Idaho lAnnueaumoetober 24, 193s, serm- Ne. 46,616 y 9 claims. (ci. ss-iov) Thisinvention relates to harvesting machines andmore particularly to anapparatus for expeditiously effecting the harvesting of sugar beets.

It is doubtless well known that sugar beetsy have a luxuriant topfoliage which is exposed above the ground while the beet itself is.imbedded in the earth, and, in preparing beets of this type for themarket, it is necessary that these tops be removed. Obviously, removalby hand is a tedi- 10 ousoperation, and while various types .ofapparatus have heretofore been vused for this purpose, nevertheless theyare open to'various objections, such for example as either not properlyremoving the tops or cutting away too much of the body orpulp of thebeet. Also, after the beets are topped, they must be removed from theground and loaded for transportation from the field. v

Accordingly, the present invention haskgen- 0 erally in view aharvesting apparatus which not only removes the tops of the beets butalso includes a unit which plowsor pulls them from the earthl and placesthem in position to be automatically pitched into an elevator or lifting5 mechanism that carries or conveys them into a field wagon travellingbeside the harvester.

One of the special objects of the invention is to provide a noveltopping unit which is intended to roll over the exposed topsor foliagefor the m, purpose of depressing or laying it down in preparation forbeing automatically sheared or cut from thebody of the beet in the earthby rotating power driven knivesor blades.`

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear.as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed. 40 Apreferred and practical embodiment of the invention-is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in whichz- Figure 1 is a side elevation oftheimprovedharvesting apparatus. y l Figure 2 is a horizontal sectionalview taken on the-line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 2'b is a detail front elevation' oi' the topping Aunit. v

Similar reference characters designate correspending parts throughoutthe several-figures of the drawing.

According. to the embodiment ofthe invention shown in the accompanyingdrawing,4 the same essentially comprises,v a tractor'. or `equivalentmotor vehicle A including a chassiamotor. steertending shaft housing II.

ing means etc. and having a motordriven transmission designatedgenerallyas A' and equipped beneath the chassis orplatform thereof with a noveltopping unit B operating in advance of a pulling or digging unit Cconnected to the rear 5 of the vehicle and which precedes the liftingmeans D intended to pick-up beets from the ground andpitch or throw theminto a 'suitable lifting or elevating conveyor device.

Referring first to the topping unit B, itxmay 1o be pointed out that thesame is preferably mounted beneath the frame I of the vehicle bysuitable brackets 2. 'I'hese brackets provide f a support in which asecondaryl drive shaft 3 is fjournalled,l the said shaft having at oneendthereofl a power 15` take-oil gear, .3e and at .the opposite end abevelled gear 4 meshing with the bevelled gear 5. lThis gear is carriedby4 shaft 6 which shaftextends rearwardly; of the vehicle and isprovided withv a gear 'I meshing with the main power driven. gear o 8 ofthe power driven transmission A lpreviously A l referred to. Thus, itwill be apparent that the shaft 3 is directly driven from thetransmission@ o f the vehicle for the purpose of supplying power to the.cutting elements of the topping means ,25

proper as will presently appear. The shaft'lis provided, in addition tothe gear 4 with another bevelled gear 4 which in turn meshes with abevelled gear 9 carried by the downwardly ex- Il) encased within ahousing .II.

'I'he upper end of this housing is rotatively 30 mounted on theshaft 3so that the housing as well as the shaft may swing relative to theshaft. 3. An arm I2 is also rotatively mounted on the shaftl 3 betweenthe gear 4 and one of the brackets 2 as will-be apparent from Figure 2.Thus, the casing II andv arm I2 provide in eect a swinging .hanger foratop depressing drum I3 and a plurality of yrotating cutting bladesy I4.The cutting blades. I4 are carried by a frame or. 4o reelvportion I5mounted on the shaft I6 jour-'1f nalled in the lower end'of the housingII and.` the lower'end of the arm I2. This shaft I6 has the topdepressing drum idly mounted thereon but is provided 'with a gear I1which in .turn 45 meshes with-a gear I8 on theshaft Ill-inthe Sincetheframe-or reell I5 iskeyed or locked with theshaft I 6, it will beapparent that thecutting blades I4 carried bythe reel Il will be powerdriven direct from thetransmise. 50 sion of the vehicle through themedium'of shafting` 6 -3-40 andthe gears described. Thus,l

. the cutting'bladesor'shears are power driven and rotate about the drumI3 'which vpasses overthe-V The top depressing I l is preferably aninlilated member madeof rubber or equivalent madown and enable the rotatingknives I4 to readily and effectively sever the foliage from the body ofthe beet. y

The entire topping unit may be raised and loweredv thrpugh the medium ofthe lever B' and the flexible link or chain B2. That is to say, for thepurpose of regulating and knives I4 with reference to thel ground or thebeet tops, the entire unit may be raised and lowered by the means B' andB. And, for the purpose of yieldingly holding the top depressing drumdown on the beet tops a spring Bs may be arranged between the frame partvI2 and the housing for the shaft 6. This spring may be mounted onaguide rod. as shown, which slides in a clip on the housing for the shaft6. The rotating 1 projecting above the ground to fully sever the knivesare intended to be able to cut the surface of the earth -as well as theflesh of the beets to fully remove the beet tops and, the raising andlowering meansis intended to regulate the position of knives and drumwith reference to the earth and the' portion of the beet pulp or fleshbeet tops.

After the beets have been topped by the unit B, and as the tractor Aproceeds over the row, the digging unit C comes into` play. At thispoint, it may be explained that the pulling or digging unit C and thelifting unit D are all mounted on a drawer bar or frame F ofsubstantially U-shape,

or bail-like formation, having the free ends thereof suitably connectedor hinged to a fixed part of the tractor as indicated at F' so that saidunits C, D may be raised or lowered with respect tothe ground.

^ The digging unit C includes pulling elements 2 0 carried by suspendingmembers 2l pivotally mounted on bracket 22 carried by the drawer bar F,undue rearward motion of the pulling elements being prevented by brace23. The pitching unit D including disk 24 mounted on shaft 25 journalledas at 25'l in the drawer bar is suitably connected at 21 with thetransmission A'. Disk 24 carries pitching forks 26 controlled by guidestems 21 and eyes 26 on disk 29 rotated by'shaft 25. These Vforks pitchthe beets to one side of the row where they may be picked up by aconveyor, if

desired.

vThe drawer bar F is provided at opposite sides with suspending arms 4I'whose upper ends have a link conection 42 with crank arms 43 of ahorizontal adjusting shaft 44 journaled between spaced arms 40. Oneportion of vthis shaft carries an operating lever 45which`cooperateswith a fixed toothed or equivalent segment 46 mounted erably engaged attheir' point of pivotal connection with links 42 bythe tensioningsprings 41 which assume much of the load or weight of the elements C andD. By manipulating lever 45 over the segment 46, the drawer bar F andassociated parts may be raised and lowered with reference to the groundto enable the operator to lift these instrumentalities clear of theground when travelling to and from the beet eld. e

In operation, it will be understood that the tractor travels overandabove the row of beets, the front wheels of the tractor beingsufficiently the portion of the drum I3 by the inflated hollow drum I3while'the rotatingknives I4 will shear or cut the tops and leave thebody of the beet in the ground. Subsequently,

As the tractor moves along, the powerv the beets are plowed or pulledfrom the earthiio by the pullers 20 and are then thrown out of the` rowby the pitchforks 26.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the'invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. vand it will of course be understood that changes in the form,proportion andv minor details of constructionmay be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:-

1. In a beet harvester, a beet topping unit including a rotatablefoliage depressing member, and power driven cutting knives operatingpe-l ripherally of the said member for shearing the tops from-the bodyof the beet.

- 2. Ina beet harvester, includingA a chassis, a source of power,aswinging tcp-cutting frame pivotally supported at one end to thechassis,

means comprising shafting and gearing connected with saidsource ofpower. a rolling top depressing member carried by the lower end of theswinging frame, and shearing knives mounted to operate about theperiphery of the top depressing member and operatively connected withsaid'shafting and gearing.

3. In a beet harvester, a beet topping unit including an inflated topdepressing drum, and shering means operating inv conjunction therewit 4.In a beet harvester, a beet topping unit including'an inflated topdepressing drum, and ro-A tatable power driven shearing means operatingin conjunction therewith.

5. In a beet harvester, a self adjusting swinging frame, a topdepressing -member carried at the free end of the frame. shearing means0perating in conjunction with said member, and power driven connectionscarried by said swinging frame for operating the shearing means.

6. In a beet harvester, a power driven shaft serving as a frame support,a frame swingably.

mounted on said shaft, a top depressing drum idly journalled in the endof the frame opposite the shaft, a knife reel rotatably supported aboutthe drum, and a driving connection between the reel and said powerdriven shaft.

'.7. In a beet harvester, a beet topping unit including a compressibletop depressing drum, and shearingmeans operating peripherally about saiddrum.

8. In a beet harvester, a beet topping unit including a compressible topdepressing drum, means for supporting the drum for idle rollingmovement, and power driven shearing elements mounted to operateperipherally about said drum.

9. In a beet harvester, a beet topping unit including an annular topdepressing member having a. yielding surface for depressing the tops ofthe beets, and shearing means operating in conjunction with said member.

OLE HANSEN.

